As stated in iyengars light on yoga - Asanas are significant and illustrate the principle of evolution. Some are named after vegetation, insects, aquatic animals and amphibians, quadrupeds or four legged animals , sages, and birds. This pose is named after a bird.
A male chicken is called a cockerel or rooster. Cockerels call at the early in morning signaling the start of a day. Long ago people would wait for the call of a cockerel as a sign of wakeup call which is now taken over by alarm clocks in modern times.
This pose resembles the shape of a cockerel hence the name.
How to do it:
Kukkutasana can be done only when you can sit in padmasana or lotus pose. Before attempting kukkutasana it is better to practice padmasana wherein you retain the pose for few seconds to one minute comfortably. Also try warming up wrists by gentle rotation clock wise and anti clockwise to avoid injuries due to load as the whole body weight is borne by palms in this pose.
Steps involved to do this pose:
1.Sit on the mat with legs straight.
2. Bend the right leg at the knee, hold the right foot with both hands and place it at the crease of the left thigh and the right heel is close to navel.
3.Now bend the left leg , and holding the left foot with both hands place it over the right at the root ,here too the heel is near to navel. The soles of feet should be turned up. Now this is padmasana.
4.Insert the hands in the space between thigh and calf near the knees. First insert the fingers and gradually push the hands down up to the elbows.
5.With exhalation raise the body off the floor and balance on the palms keeping the thumbs together. Retain the posture for thirty seconds to one minute.
6.Slowly slide down , release the hands and repeat on the other side by changing the crossing of the legs.
Benefits of Kukkutasana:
1. Removes stiffness in knees and ankles.
2. The spine and abdominal organs are toned.
3. Circulation is improved and blood is rushed towards lumbar region.
4. Core is strengthened.
5. Wrist and arms are strengthened.
Preparatory poses:
1. Padmasana.
2. Chaturanga dandasana.
3. Tolasana.
4. Ardha badda Paschimottanasana.
Caution:
1. Adequate strength is required for wrists in this pose, hence warming up the wrists is highly recommended.
2. People whose knees are stiff must first be able to do padmasana comfortably only then try doing this posture.
3. People with wrist injury must try only after complete recovery.
One of the major challenge in this pose is to insert the fingers followed by hand in space between the back of knee and thighs. Initially you can try by moistening the hands by spraying water so that it lubricates for easy movement.
Comments